Enhancing the soft‐tissue integration of dental implant abutments—in vitro study to reveal an optimized microgroove surface design to maximize spreading and alignment of human gingival fibroblasts

Abstract

Within this work, we demonstrate the influences of different microgrooved surface topographies on the alignment and spreading of human gingival fibroblast (HGF) cells and present the optimal parameters for an improved soft‐tissue integration design for dental implant abutments for the first time. Microgrooves with lateral widths from 2.5 to 75 μm were fabricated by UV‐lithography and wet etching on bulk Ti6Al4V ELI material. The microstructured surfaces were compared to polished and ground surfaces as current state of the art. The resulting microtopographies were analyzed using vertical scanning interferometry and scanning electron microscopy. Samples loaded with HGF cells were incubated for 8 and 72 hr and cell orientation, spreading, resulting area, and relative gene expression were analyzed. The effect of contact guidance occurred on all microstructured surfaces yet there is a clear preferable range for the lateral widths of the microgrooves between approx. 11.5 and 13.9 μm and depths between 1.6 and 2.4 μm for an abutment surface design, where cell orientation and spreading maximizes. For structures larger than 30 μm, cell orientation, spreading and even gene expression of intercellular adhesion molecule‐1 and yes‐associated protein decrease.

3D printed zirconia dental implants with integrated directional surface pores combine mechanical strength with favorable osteoblast response

“…Similar adhesion patterns as observed for the lamellar structure of the AM implants were described for model surfaces with parallel grooves and ridges, with cells tending to adhere on the surface ridges whilst avoiding the surface grooves [16-19, 73, 74]. This surface-dependent distribution pattern of adhesion sites alongside the ridges leads to cell elongation and alignment in a predominant orientation [18,20,21,74]. Noteworthy is that the osteoblasts in the present work aligned perpendicular to the surface ridges, whereas most of the previous investigations characterizing cellular morphogenesis and alignment on model surfaces with grooves/ridges reported cell alignment alongside the surface ridges [16][17][18]75].…”

“…Noteworthy is that the osteoblasts in the present work aligned perpendicular to the surface ridges, whereas most of the previous investigations characterizing cellular morphogenesis and alignment on model surfaces with grooves/ridges reported cell alignment alongside the surface ridges [16][17][18]75]. The alignment of cells (either parallel or perpendicular to the groove direction) was shown to depend on cell type and micro/nano-scale groove dimensions [74,76,77]. Parallel alignment along the grooves was reported for groove sizes of 5 µm (corresponding to the pore width of 4.7 µm of the AM implants in this work) [21,74].…”

An Experimental Anodized Titanium Surface for Transgingival Dental Implant Elements—Preliminary Report

“…Many in vitro studies have used HGF to determine the effects of different surface treatments on cell adhesion and spread to predict the epithelial attachment potential and soft-tissue sealing in the clinical situation [ 41 , 42 , 43 ]. Our study has confirmed that none of the surfaces tested here have any cytotoxic effect on HGF cell lines, so they can be safe to use for dental implant transgingival elements such as abutments or healing screws.…”

Fibronectin-coated microgroove titanium surface promotes the behaviors of human gingival fibroblasts

“…Previously, porous titanium surfaces can be made using acid-etching, sandblasting, or laser. Compared with these methods, the microgroove design with regular distribution is more effective in cell behaviors, which is beneficial for forming soft tissue around implants 17) . Structure of microgroove (M) means more adherable surface area.…”